Study on a Separation Technique for Plastic-metal Wastes by the Molten Salt (II)

Theoretical Analysis of Separation Characteristics

Abstract

Previously, we reported the development of a new separation technique of plastics from compound wastes by using a high temperature molten salt as a separation medium, in which the basic characteristics of separation phenomena were investigated. In this report, a simple theoretical model was developed for predicting of the separation phenomena. The model includes both heating and deformation processes of the plastic. The heating process was analyzed as the boundary value problem of heat conduction involving with heat transfer, The flow of the fluidized plastic was described as a high viscosity flow driven by the buoyancy force. The deformation on the surface of the plastic was predicted theoretically. The deformation pattern was found to be in qualitatively agreement with the experimental data. Separation time was measured experimentally against the various thickness of plastic. Theoretical separation time was derived from a combination of the heating time and the deformation time, and was described as a function of plastic thickness. The theoretical model was found to agree well with the experimental result.